TT 751 
MS 
Copy 1 



Rjaffia 

Embroidery 




The Raffia Palm 



Art 
Burlaps 

and 

How 

it 

is 
Done 



H. B* Wiggin's Sons Co. 

Manufacturers of 
Fab-Ri-tto-Na 

Woven Wall Coverings 

Bloomfield, N. J. 

Copyright 1304 



pBRARYofCONGREii 

i Two Copies Received 

NOV 2 1904 

Copyright Entry 
CLASS /\ 7 XXc.Noj| 
COPY B. I 




TKe Raffia Palm 



T75I 
• W5 



N FAR-OFF Madagas- 
car, in the lowlands 
along the sea-coast, 
where the heat and 
moisture make vege- 
tation grow in spend- 
thrift luxuriance, one 
of the most striking 
and picturesque 
features of the land- 
scape is a tall palm 
tree, sturdy of trunk, 
from the upper third 
of which huge 
feather-like leaves 
are flung in great 
profusion. This is 
the Raffia palm, and 
the raffia now be- 
coming so popular 
and so variously 
useful is the fibre stripped from those long, beautiful leaves. 
Do you remember how Sinbad the Sailor escaped from a desert 
island by tying himself fast to the leg of a giant bird known as 
the Roc ? The historian of the Arabian Nights does not tell us 
what finally became of the Roc, but tradition from another source 
declares that the Roc, driven from her native haunts by the 




MODERN NATIVE HOUSES 
ANTANANARIVO 



encroachments of men, flew away down the coasts of Africa and 
settled on Madagascar, where her cast-off feathers, taking root in 
a favorable soil, became the raffia palm, whose leaves, are, indeed, 
strongly suggestive of gigantic plumage. 

The Island of Madagascar, off the southeastern coast of Africa, 
is nearly iooo miles long from north to south, and about 350 miles 
wide at the widest part. Its area is perhaps 230,000 square miles; its 
population is estimated at over 4,000,000; it is 250 miles from 
the African mainland, from which it is divided by the Mozambique 
channel. 

For some miles back from the coast the land is low, intersected 
by arms of the sea, by many lagoons and rivers, but more than 
half of the interior is a high plateau rich in rice fields. Here the 
ruling Hova tribe has its home, and on some hills nearly in the 
centre of this high region is the capital city, Antananarivo, with 
100,000 inhabitants. It is 200 miles distant from Tamatave, the 
great seaport of the eastern coast of the island. For some years 
the island has been governed by the French, who have done much 
to civilize the natives, and develop the resources of the land. 

The raffia palm is not only a striking and charming feature of 
of the lowland land- 
scape, it is also one of 
the most important 
elements in the life of 
the people. Its large 
seed-bud resembling 
that of the cabbage 
palm supplies a nour- 
ishing vegetable food, 
its wood enters large- 
ly into the construe- A V|LLAQC STREET 





PRIMITIVE NATIVE AROHITEOTURI 



tion of their houses, 
while from its leaves 
they secure thatch- 
ing for walls and 
roofs, and fibre, 
which they weave 
and utilize in almost 
numberless ways. 

This fibre, which 
is the Rama now be- 
coming so interesting 
and important to us, 

is the under skin of the Rama palm-leaf. When the leaves are 
nearing maturity they are taken from the tree. The native 
women, who are very skilful in the work, using their knives with 
great dexterity, cut across the under side of the leaf near the stem, 
and strip that skin from the upper, just as one may separate the 
inner from the outer skin of the peapod. 

This under skin is laid in the sun until thoroughly dried. 
Then it is torn into the ribbon or string-like strands that make it 
look to our eyes so much like a kind of grass. For weaving these 
strands are tied end to end, as our grandmothers sewed "carpet- 
rags"; but for export the strands are twisted into ropes, the ropes 
plaited into rolls two to four inches thick, the whole being so 
tightly bound with an outer wrapping of fibre that it seems as solid 
as a stick of wood. 

Until recent years little of the raffia fibre was sent out from 
the island, but it is now fast becoming a valuable export. In the 
season, schooners of light draught visit the little villages along the 
coasts, gathering up the crop, which is taken to the great trading- 
ports and sent to far off lands. 



The Raffia fibre retains considerable strength even when 
reduced to a fine thread. Of such threads the natives weave a 
very good sort of cloth which was once generally used for clothing, 
and is still so used in parts of the island by certain classes. In 
those regions that have come closest into touch with civilization, 
muslins and calicoes have superseded the native cloth. In such 
regions, however, the fibre is woven into hangings for the house, 
into mats for various 
purposes and the 
coarser weaves form 
awnings, covers for the 
ubiquitous umbrellas, 
and other useful arti- 
cles. 

In the market- 
place of a town like 
Antananarivo one may 
see a native sitting on 
a raffia rug under the 
shelter of a raffia um- 
brella, attending a 
booth draped with 
raffia mats, whereon in 
baskets of raffia are ar- 
ticles of various kinds 
which when sold will be wrapped in raffia covers and tied with 
raffia twine. 

Of course the native work in raffia has been somewhat improved 
under the instruction of white men, but for the most part the 
weaving is still done on native looms of a primitive type, and in 
patterns which exhibit the native taste and skill. 




IMPROVED NATIVE ARCHITECTURE 



Raffia Embroidery 

Raffia is now utilized in many ways. The soft, pliable, but 
very strong strands are easily woven or plaited by the hands of 
kindergarten children. Makers of fancy boxes, baskets, photo- 
graph holders and the like use it quite extensively. It is even 
shredded very fine and used in crocheting a raffia lace of which 
exquisite hats are made, or which is employed in delicate applique 
embroidery. 

The most popular use for raffia is, however, in direct embroidery 
work such as we explain and illustrate in our catalogue, "Home 
Embroidery on Fab-Ri-Ko-Na Art Pillow Covers ' ' in which we 
show seven designs for raffia-worked pillow covers, and two table 
cover designs. In each case the design is simple, and the stitches 
are easy to understand and execute. The colorplate which we send 
with each pillow cover gives an excellent idea of the style of stitch 
used in working out the various parts of the design, but for the 
benefit of those who have no experience in embroidery work we 
offer some suggestions which will, we think, enable any intelligent 
person to do this work without difficulty. 

One stumbling-block in the way of its introduction is the 
uncertainty about the kind of stitches which may be used in 
working out the designs. The fact is that the stitches used in 
Raffia embroidery do not differ from those made use of in other 
embroidery work, and we herewith give drawings showing the 
most important of these. 

Notice, first, that this work is done in free, bold stitches. 
The effects produced are not dependent on fineness or delicacy of 
handling, as in the case of embroidery with silk. Both the burlap 
and the raffia have a certain dignified coarseness, suggestive of 



strength, and the stitches used must be consistent with the 
material. 

The stitch most frequently useful is the Outline Stitch (No. 2, 
page 11). This may be used for all outline work, and is often 
available for filling in solid parts. 

In beginning any of these stitches, instead of making a knot 
at the end of the raffia strand, run a few stitches (presently to be 
covered over by the regular stitches) on the right side of this 
burlap. In finishing, run them at the back of the burlap, or you 
may use a buttonhole stitch. 

Design No. 500— The outline of the basket-work border, 
outline stitch; the cross stitches in the corner sections are merely 
long stitches laid across each other and tacked down at the crossing 
points; the outline stitch is used for the single lines connecting 
flowers with flowers or wheat-head with wheat-head; the green 
leaves may be made by putting rows of outline stitches closer 
together, or any straight stitch can be used for the filling, making 
the stitches long or short, acccording to the requirements of the 
space; the same straight long and short are used in working the 
flowers, and the wheat grains are also made in the same simple 
way, with the touch of orange color set in by single straight 
stitches on top of the grains, which are made by the natural raffia. 

Design No. 501 — Here the work is equally easy. All the 
black outlining is done with the outline stitch; the filling of the 
green leaves is done with simple long and short stitches; the same 
are used in forming the flower-part of the thistle, and the green 
bud. Although this design is very handsome when worked out, 
the stitches are such that a child could make them. 

Design No. 502 — In working this design the colorplate will 
be of prime assistance. By it you will see that the border is com- 
posed of an outside line of red, made of a single row of outline 



stitching, an inside line of black, a line of the natural next inside 
the black, and then sufficient rows of green to complete the filling 
from the natural line out to the red. The outlines of the leaves, 
buds and flowers are simply single rows of black; the stems 
reaching up to the flowers and buds, single rows of green; while 
the filling in of leaves, buds and flowers is made with the straight 
long and short stitches, slanted as indicated on the colorplate. In 
the centre of the leaves are a few stitches of the natural raffia, 
with a stitch or two of the same on the buds. 

Design No. 503— This peculiar scroll design scarcely needs 
a word of explanation, as the manner of making is fully shown 
by the colorplate. The outline stitch may be used exclusively 
here, excepting where the cross-stitches are used to break up the 
the blank space between the outlines. The colorplate is mislead- 
ing in one respect — the light red stitches which run with the 
green stitches and make the outline, should have been yellow 
instead of red, as they are made with the natural raffia. Red is 
used only where the bright red stitches are shown. 

Design No. 504 — This design of Indian bands and scrolls is 
particularly appropriate to the raffia and the burlap, and, although 
it looks rather intricate, is far from difficult to execute. The out- 
line of all the scrolls and bands are made with single rows of 
outline stitch, using the colors of raffia indicated on the colorplate. 
The filling in is done with single straight stitches. In making 
these in the scrolls, be careful to let the slant of your stitches 
correspond to the curve of the scroll, which is done by making 
the stitches lap a little on the inside edge of the curve. Filling in 
the figures in the bands is merely a matter of making straight 
stitches, and laying them side by side with as much neatness and 
regularity as possible. 

8 



Design No. 505 — Here is a Persian design which finishes 
with a peculiar richness. The first glance at the picture in the 
catalogue gives the impression of elaborateness and difficulty. 
With the colorplate before you, however, the design is seen to 
consist of a succession of intelligible and ordinary lines, almost 
entirely done in the outline stitch. If you first make the general 
outline of the two plaques, the filling in will be found easy and 
rapid. There seems to be a good deal of detail involved in the 
execution of this design, but when you analyze it you find that 
the number of difficult figures is small, the same figure being 
frequently repeated. When you have mastered each one of these 
separate parts, the repetitions present no difficulties. 

Design No. 506 — This is an Egyptian design, and all the 
figures inside of the border are full of the symbolism of the land of 
the Pharaohs. The colorplate shows the color scheme as it is 
when the design is worked on the crimson burlap. On the 
extreme outside of the border two lines of black are made with 
two lines of blue between them. On the inside of the border a 
black line comes next to the filling, then a yellow line, and then 
a green line on the extreme inside. Black lines break this border 
band into large and small sections, the large sections being filled 
in with the green, the smaller sections with the yellow. In all 
this work, and in outlining the figures in the centre of the design, 
the outline may be used with good effect. The filling in of the 
figures is done with straight stitches inclined at the angles 
indicated on the colorplate. The circle between the wings, and 
the head of the asp are filled in with the long and short stitches. 

Design No. 550— This Egyptian table cover design is 
similar in motif and execution to pillow cover Design No. 506. 
Our colorplate shows a quarter of the complete design. The 
manner of working this design is shown so plainly on the color- 



plate that, with the directions given for No. 506, no one should 
have difficulty in securing the most pleasing results. 

Design No. 551 — Here is a design which has been a source 
of gratined pride to each person who has worked it out. It makes 
a most striking and charming table cover, and is wonderfully easy 
to make. The outline stitch is again the prominent factor in the 
work. The filling of the sunflowers is merely the straight long 
and short stitch, and the heavy, vine-like stems are but successive 
rows of outline stitching. The filling of the leaves is make by 
stretching long stitches across the width of the leaf, and catching 
them with the under and over stitches as shown on the colorplate. 

Various expedients are used to hem these table covers, the 
simplest way being to catch the hem with a chain stitch (page 12), 
or the feather stitch (page 14). Another way is to catch the edges 
with an open buttonhole stitch, putting a row of outline stitching 
back of the inside ends of the buttonhole stitches. A pretty effect 
is gained by running strands of suitable colored raffia along the 
edge of the goods, and catching the strands under the button- 
holing. 




10 



No. I 




Crewel StitcH (No. i). Having made a start in the 

usual way keep your thread downwards under your left 

thumb and below your 
needle — that is, to the 
right; then take up with 
the needle, say % °f an 
inch of the burlap, and 
bring it out through the 
hole made in starting the 

stitch, taking care not to pierce the strand. This gives the first half 

stitch. If you proceed in the same way your next stitch will be 

full length. 

Outline StitcH (No. 2). This differs from the Crewel Stitch 

only in that the thread 

is always kept upwards 

above the needle — that 

is, to the left. The stitch 

is useful for single lines 

and for outlining solid 

work. 

Stem StitcH (No. 3). Begin with the usual half stitch; then, 
holding the thread downwards instead of proceeding as in Crewel 

Stitch you slant your nee- 
dle so as to bring it out a 
little higher up than the 
half- stitch, but precisely 
above it. You next put 
the needle in % of an 
inch in advance of the last 
stitch, and, as before, bring it out again in a slanting direction a 
little higher up. 





11 



LofC. 



Chain StitcK (Nos. 4 and 5). The simpler forms of chain 
stitch are so familiar that we illustrate only the two more intricate 
forms. These stitches are unlikely to be frequently used in Raffia 
\sork. 

No. 4 is worked horizontally from right to left. Bring your 
needle out at a point which is to be the lower edge of your work, 

throw your strand around to 

the left, and, keeping it all 

the time loosely around your 

thumb, put your needle under 

the thread and twist it once 

'*"° around to the right. Then, at 

the upper edge of your work, 

put in the needle and slide the 

thread towards 

the right bring 

the needle out 

exactly below 

where you put it in, carry your thread under the 

needle towards the left, draw the thread tight, and 

the first stitch is done. 

No. 5 is a variation on No. 4, and is worked 
vertically, downwards. Having, as before, put 
your needle under the thread and twisted it once 
around, put it in at a point which is to be the left 
edge of your work, and, instead of bringing it 
immediately below that point, slant it to the right, 
bringing it out on that edge of the work, and finish 
as No. 4. 





12 



Herringbone StitcH (Nos. 6, 7, 8.) The ordinary zigzag 
Herringbone Stitch does not need illustration but we give three of 
the more involved forms. All of the Herring-Bone Stitches are 



SS^' 



No. 7 





No. 8 




adapted to Raffia work. The illustrations ( Nos. 6, 7, 8, ) show so 
plainly how these stitches are made that it is not necessary to give 
detailed instructions also. 



13 




No. 9 



P lvi m age StitcK (No. 9). The 
Plumage Stitch, also sometimes called 
the " Embroidery Stitch" or -'Dovetail 
Stitch" is used in shaded leaves of flowers 
or foliage. It is sometimes very service- 
able in raffia embroid- 
ery. 

Butt onhole 
StitcH(No.io). Leav- 
ing the common forms 
of the Buttonhole 
Stitch, we give (No. 10) 
one illustration of a 
very effective stitch of 
this class, sometimes 
used for border- work. 




No. 10 



FeatKer StitcK (No. 11). The Feather Stitch has several 
variations. We illustrate one which is very effective, and not 
difficult. Either mark or imagine four 1234 
guiding lines, 1, 2, 3, 4, from left to right. 
Bring your needle out at the top of line 1. 
Make a chain stitch slanting downwards 
from line 1 to line 2. Put your needle into 
line 3, a little lower down, and, slanting it 
upwards, bring it out on line 4, level with 
the point where you last brought it out. 
Make a chain-stitch slanting downwards 
this time from right to left, and bring your 
needle out on line 3. Lastly, put your 
needle into line 2, a trifle below the last 
stitch, and, slanting it upwards, bring it 
out on line 1. 



14 




No. 11 




Oriental StitcH (Nos. 12 and 13). 
This is akin to the Feather Stitch. It is 
sometimes made with the middle part 
straight and narrow, sometimes with it 
straight and broad, 



m 




and sometimes with 
it slanting as in the 
two illustrations 
given, (Nos. 12 and 
13). The two draw- 
ings give a perfectly 
clear idea of the 
manner of making these stitches, except that 
in this case the middle part is slanting. 



No. 13 

Rope and Knot StitcHes (Nos. 14, 15, 16, 17, 18). We 
introduce here a number of Rope and Knot Stitches which are of 
interest to the embroiderer, but are seldom used in Raffia work. 
No. 14 is a rope stitch in which the stitches are made to overlap, 

producing a rope-like effect. 
No. 15 is sometimes known as 
the German-Knot-Stitch, and is 
used to make knotted lines. 
Nos. 16 and 17 illustrate the 
making of the Bullion or Roll 
Stitch, suitable for small forms 
of flower-petal or even leaf. No. 
18 shows the French knot. 




15 



No. 19 is an example of an interlacing stitch, of which an 
endless variety may be made by combining two or more stitches. 




No. 16 



In this case the background is the common zigzag herring-bone 
stitch, with the upper strand curved around at the cross-points of 
the under stitch. 

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



16 



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014 080 308 ft 




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